May unemployment rate down over year ago

The May unemployment rate in St. Joseph County increased eight-tenths of a percent compared to a month earlier.
The monthly labor-market analysis by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget showed St. Joseph County’s 4.7 percent May unemployment rate was higher than April’s 3.9 percent.
May’s unemployment rate, however, was 1.1 percent less than the same month one year earlier, when the figure was 5.8 percent.
St. Joseph County remained below the state unemployment average, which was 5.9 percent in May.
The agency said more seasonal employment, and gains in business services, construction, and leisure and hospitality helped stabilize the unemployment rate for the month.
At 4.4 percent, Allegan County had the region’s lowest unemployment rate in May, while Hillsdale County had the highest, at 5.8 percent.